QUOTES OF THE WEEK...

ALASTAIR Cook’s idea of how to fill your players with confidence, in the wake of their worst collapse since 1938 and a 108-run defeat to Bangladesh in Dhaka:

“We go to India as pretty heavy underdogs…. we haven’t got world-class spinners. ”Thanks, skip….and the bad news? PHIL Tufnell gives it to you straight on England’s lack of world-class spinners and Bangladesh’s match-winning teenager Mehedi Hasan:

“England took four spinners; an old one, a leggie, a left-armer and right-armer and they’ve all being done by a 19-year-old.

“Well bowled, young man. But, let’s be fair, all he did was just plop it on a length. He’s not a Murali or a Shane Warne, just a little 19-year-old offie and the odd one skidded on.” BOBWillis, sitting on the fence, as usual:

“In terms of cricketing disasters this is right at the top of the tree as far as England are concerned. If you think about the tens of millions pumped into this cricket outfit, this series has been disgraceful.

“They (England) demeaned Test cricket by picking an understrength side for this second Test having just squeezed home in the first.” JON Kent, former South African cricketer employed by host broadcaster GTV, keeping a close eye on umpire S.Ravi as Ben Stokes cranked up the verbals with Sabbir Rahman for a third time in spite of repeated warnings from the officials:

“Good to see umpire Ravi’s got a sense of humour. He knows it’s part of the game and what it’s all about.”

Indeed it tickled him so much that he and his partner Dharmasena made sure Stokes was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and awarded a demerit point. ENGLAND disability cricketer Liam Thomas on the choice he made in a T20I against Pakistan when, diving for the ball in the deep, his prosthetic limb flew off:

“I didn’t know whether to grab the leg or get the ball. I decided to go for the ball.”